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This series includes accounts, by eye-witnesses and contemporaries, of early expeditions to the Arctic and the Antarctic. Huge resources were invested in such endeavours, particularly the search for the North-West Passage, which, if successful, promised enormous strategic and commercial rewards. Cartographers and scientists travelled with many of the expeditions, and their work made important contributions to earth sciences, climatology, botany and zoology. They also brought back anthropological information about the indigenous peoples of the Arctic region and the southern fringes of the American continent. The series further includes dramatic and poignant accounts of the harsh realities of working in extreme conditions and utter isolation in bygone centuries.

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202 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Polar Exploration

Page 10 of 11

Journal of a Second Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific
  • Performed in the Years 1821–22–23 ... under the Orders of Captain William Edward Parry
  • William Edward Parry
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    01 December 2011
    First published in:
    1824
  • After joining the Navy at thirteen, William Edward Parry (1790–1855) spent three years protecting the whale fisheries of Spitzbergen. He was later appointed to several Arctic expeditions. Although his first voyage in search of the North-West Passage ended without success in 1819, it provided valuable scientific data and experience. The expedition of 1821–3 was longer, with two winters spent on the ice, but also ended without success. Parry's account of that second voyage, first published in 1824, provides insights into the early days of Arctic exploration and the character of one of its pioneers, noted for his care for his men, his precision in navigation and scientific observations, and his ability to quickly find solutions to difficult problems. The book also includes descriptions of the 'Esquimaux' encountered by the explorers, and their communities as well as a vocabulary of their language.

Beyond Petsora Eastward
  • Two Summer Voyages to Novaya Zemlya and the Islands of Barents Sea
  • Henry J. Pearson
  • Appendix by H. W. Feilden
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1899
  • In 1895, naturalists Henry J. Pearson (1859–1913) and Colonel H. W. Feilden (1838–1921) set out to Norway for the first time, aiming to study Arctic bird life, geology and botany. This book, first published in 1899, is a collection of their diary entries and papers. Full of humour and written almost novelistically, Pearson's diary describes his ornithological findings and the other noteworthy features of their voyages - he includes an anecdotal account of the process of catching a whale, and describes their own less than ideal ship, and the many difficulties of travelling in the often inhospitable and little-explored North. In the second half of the book, Feilden focuses on geology and botany in three technical papers accompanied by his own photographs. A remarkable account of an ambitious project, this book forms part of the nineteenth-century genre of scientific travel literature, and contains still-relevant information about the Arctic environment.

The Official Report of the Recent Arctic Expedition
  • George S. Nares
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1876
  • In 1875, Sir George Strong Nares (1831–1915) set out for the Arctic in command of the ships Alert and Discovery, hoping to reach the North Pole and find the rumoured Open Polar Sea that surrounded it. The Official Report, published in 1876, recounts his fifteenth-month journey in lively and often harrowing detail, describing freezing temperatures, frostbite and scurvy, vast, uncharted landscapes and treacherous, ice-choked waterways. It records the progress of the British Arctic Expedition with the scrupulous detail of a ship's log, providing valuable insights into the logistical complexities and human costs of Polar exploration. 'We had arrived on the shore of the Arctic Ocean finding it exactly the opposite of an Open Polar Sea', Nares notes ruefully. A two-volume popular account of the voyage, published in 1878, is also reissued in this series.

Narrative of a Voyage to the Polar Sea during 1875–6 in HM Ships Alert and Discovery
  • With Notes on the Natural History
  • Volume 1
  • George Nares
  • Appendix by H. W. Feilden
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1878
  • The British Vice-Admiral and Arctic explorer Sir George Nares (1831–1915) received several honours for his contributions to science, including a fellowship of the Royal Society. He attended the Royal Naval School, New Cross, before joining the service in 1845. After a varied early career and the successful Challenger scientific expedition in the Atlantic, he took command of the British Arctic expedition of 1875–6 that hoped to reach the North Pole. Nares' popular two-volume account of the journey was published in 1878. Volume 1 describes the journey north, and covers the discovery of the channel later called Nares Strait, and the remarkable dog-sled expedition of second-in-command, Albert Markham, that set a new record for the farthest distance north achieved. Nares' official report of the expedition and Markham's account of the journey, The Great Frozen Sea, are also available from the Cambridge Library Collection.

A Thousand Days in the Arctic
  • Volume 1
  • Frederick G. Jackson
  • Preface by Francis Leopold McClintock
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1899
  • In 1897, the triumphant return of the Jackson–Harmsworth Arctic expedition revived widespread enthusiasm for Polar exploration. Within days of the expedition's arrival in London, newspapers ranging from the Boy's Own Paper to the Graphic were full of articles relating to the endeavours and findings of this intrepid undertaking. The demand for information did not abate and, in 1899, this two-volume account by Frederick G. Jackson (1860–1938) of his travels in Franz Josef Land was published to wide acclaim. Hailed by The Morning Post as 'a record of solid achievement accomplished by dint of steady perseverance in the face of hardship and difficulty', Jackson's journal describes a forbidding terrain of ice and snow. Illustrated by maps and numerous anthropological and zoological images, Volume 1 opens with the voyage north and goes on to recount the team's accommodation - a wooden hut named 'Elmwood' - bear-hunts, and arduous but inspirational journeys by sledge.

The Arctic Voyages of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, 1858–1879
  • Alexander Leslie
  • Published online:
    05 November 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1879
  • The explorer and geologist Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901) led the expedition that first successfully navigated the North-East Passage and circumnavigated the Eurasian continent. This famous expedition took place in 1878–80, on the steamship Vega. However, prior to this expedition, Nordenskiöld had been on a number of voyages to the Arctic, where comprehensive scientific surveys were carried out. This book, first published in 1879, describes his previous voyages, including those to Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was compiled by Alexander Leslie using Nordenskiöld's own reports, and contains a great deal of historically valuable information. It details encounters with natives met during the voyages and contains the official report of the Medical Officer, Dr Envall, on the health, hygiene and care of the sick during the Swedish Polar Expedition 1872–3. It also includes a list of books and memoirs relating to the Swedish Arctic expeditions and biographical information about Nordenskiöld.

An Account of the Arctic Regions
  • With a History and Description of the Northern Whale-Fishery
  • Volume 1
  • William Scoresby
  • Published online:
    05 October 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1820
  • Written by explorer, scientist and later clergyman William Scoresby (1789–1857), this two-volume guide to the Arctic regions was first published in 1820. Scoresby, himself the son of a whaler and Arctic explorer, first sailed to the polar regions at the age of eleven, and was later apprenticed to his father. He became a correspondent of Sir Joseph Banks, and his extensive research on the Arctic area included pioneering work in oceanography, magnetism, and the study of Arctic currents and waves. He surveyed 400 miles of the Greenland coast in 1822. This account was the first book published in Britain which was devoted solely to the whale fisheries. Volume 1 is a general geographical survey of the Arctic region and includes detailed observations of polar ice conditions, atmospherology, and zoology. The book also considers the much-debated question of northern sea communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

A Summer in Greenland
  • A. C. Seward
  • Published online:
    05 April 2012
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1922
  • The author of the standard early twentieth-century textbook on fossil plants, A. C. Seward (1863–1941) was Professor of Botany at Cambridge, Master of Downing College and Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. This account of his first research trip to Greenland is an evocative portrait of the country, its immense and sublime landscape, its people, and life on the Danish scientific station. This little book, written in an engaging conversational tone, conveys Seward's enthusiasm for Greenland. It includes an explanation for non-specialists of some of Seward's findings relating to fossil plants found there, which provide evidence that the country had a much milder climate in previous geological periods. Seward's own photographs are a fascinating record of the traditional life of the Inuit population as it then survived, as well as the rugged scenery of icebergs and glaciers.

Excursions in and about Newfoundland, during the Years 1839 and 1840
  • Volume 2
  • Joseph Beete Jukes
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    11 May 2011
    First published in:
    1842
  • Joseph Beete Jukes (1811–1869) was a geologist who studied at Cambridge under the famous Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873) and eventually became a prominent member of the Geological Survey of Great Britain. In 1839, after many field expeditions in England, he was appointed to a survey of Newfoundland, a place about which he had until then been in 'utter ignorance'. The explorers failed to find the hoped-for mineral wealth they had been sent to prospect for, and returned to Britain. In 1841 Jukes joined the H.M.S. Fly as a naturalist for an upcoming expedition to chart the coasts of Australia and New Guinea. The Fly set sail for the Pacific in 1842, the year in which this two-volume account of Jukes' Newfoundland experiences was published. Volume 2 focuses mainly on Jukes' scientific observations, and includes descriptions of the island's natural history, geography and geology.

A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, during the Years 1839–43
  • Volume 1
  • James Clark Ross
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1847
  • James Clark Ross (1800–1862) was an explorer who served in the Royal Navy and made his first Arctic trip in 1818 on an unsuccessful mission to find the North-West Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On the basis of his polar experience, he was appointed to lead further expeditions, and by 1839 he found himself on the opposite side of the world in the Antarctic, with Joseph Dalton Hooker as his on-board naturalist. This two-volume account of the four-year voyage was published in 1847. Ross' findings led him to the conclusion that there was life on the sea floor to at least 730 metres, and the work is an important contribution to the development of oceanography and scientific knowledge about the Antarctic. Volume 1 covers Ross' journey from England to the Antarctic Circle, detailing the oceanic and climatic observations made along the way.

The First Crossing of Greenland
  • Volume 2
  • Fridtjof Nansen
  • Translated by Hubert Majendie Gepp
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    18 May 2011
    First published in:
    1890
  • First published in English in 1890, this book by Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) recounts the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, an expedition that took two months. Learning from previous failed attempts, Nansen suggested crossing from the uninhabited east to the inhabited west of Greenland, an innovation that proved successful. Nansen's account was translated by Hubert Majendie Gepp and includes an introduction written by the secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. Volume 2 begins with the party setting out for the west, and includes lextensive descriptions of the climate and encounters with Inuit peoples. The book closes with the party reaching the west coast and journeying home. Volume 2 also includes an appendix of the scientific discoveries of the expedition. Nansen, who later served as delegate to the League of Nations, was awarded the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize for his humanitarian endeavours.

A Short Narrative of the Second Voyage of the Prince Albert, in Search of Sir John Franklin
  • William Kennedy
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    16 September 2010
    First published in:
    1853
  • William Kennedy (1814–1890) was an explorer and fur trader. In 1851 he was recommended to Lady Franklin as the commander of her second sponsored expedition in search of her husband, Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786–1847), who had not returned from his 1845 expedition to chart the remaining unexplored section of the Arctic and the Northwest Passage. This volume, first published in 1853, contains Kennedy's account of his 1851 Arctic expedition to rescue Sir John Franklin. Written in the form of a diary, Kennedy describes in detail the hazardous conditions of the Arctic. The crew's experiences including snow blindness, frostbite, scurvy and explorations of land on foot accompanied by Husky dogs are described in detail. Kennedy's use of Inuit survival methods and the type of provisions which were used are also described, providing valuable insights into early nineteenth century methods of Arctic exploration.

Farthest North
  • Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram, 1893–96, and of a Fifteen Months' Sleigh Journey
  • Volume 1
  • Fridtjof Nansen
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    15 May 2011
    First published in:
    1897
  • Originally published in 1897, this two-volume work chronicles the polar expedition of Norwegian scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930), who came closer than any previous explorer to the North Pole. Beginning on board his boat, the Fram, which was deliberately driven into pack-ice off Siberia in order to drift north, Nansen and his companions later resorted to sleds and kayaks. Running to over six hundred pages, Volume 1 includes descriptions of the expedition's preparation and equipment, the farewell to Norway and voyage through the Kara Sea, ending with the party's second autumn on the ice. The Fram served as an oceanographic-meteorological-biological laboratory during its time in the Arctic and Nansen eventually published six volumes of scientific observations. He later became Norwegian delegate to the League of Nations, directing humanitarian projects, and is famous for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 as well as for his polar achievements.

A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions
  • Undertaken Chiefly for the Purpose of Discovering a North-East, North-West, or Polar Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific
  • John Barrow
  • Published online:
    05 November 2011
    Print publication:
    09 May 2011
    First published in:
    1818
  • Sir John Barrow (1764–1848), a founder and early president of the Royal Geographical Society, served as Second Secretary to the Admiralty for forty years. He was responsible for promoting polar exploration, and published two books on the subject for general readers, both now reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. This, the earlier of the two, appeared in 1818 and is a chronological account of Arctic voyages from the Viking period to the early nineteenth century, and of the intensifying search for a northern route between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Barrow covers the expeditions of European explorers including Cabot, Frobisher, Barentz, Hudson and Baffin. He quotes extracts from their journals to create a vivid picture of the extreme conditions experienced by the explorers, their battles against cold, disease and starvation, their impressions of the plentiful Arctic wildlife, and both friendly and hostile encounters with the Inuit.

The Last of the Arctic Voyages
  • Being a Narrative of the Expedition in HMS Assistance, under the Command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, C.B., in Search of Sir John Franklin, during the Years 1852–54
  • Volume 1
  • Edward Belcher
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1855
  • When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786–1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799–1877), who eventually took the decision to abandon four ships in the pack-ice. He recounts his unsuccessful adventure, defending his actions against critics, in this illustrated two-volume book, first published in 1855, which also includes scientific contributions. Volume 1 describes Belcher's outward journey, Arctic animals such as walruses and whales, and the effects of extreme cold.

The Last of the Arctic Voyages
  • Being a Narrative of the Expedition in HMS Assistance, under the Command of Captain Sir Edward Belcher, C.B., in Search of Sir John Franklin, during the Years 1852–54
  • Volume 2
  • Edward Belcher
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1855
  • When the experienced Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin (1786–1847) was put in command of an expedition in 1845 to search for the elusive North-West Passage he had the backing of the Admiralty and was equipped with two specially-adapted ships and a three-year supply of provisions. Franklin was last seen by whalers in Baffin Bay in July 1845. When the expedition failed to return in 1848, enormous resources were mobilised to try to discover its fate. In 1852 H.M.S. 'Assistance' was sent to lead another search mission. It was captained by Edward Belcher (1799–1877), who recounts his unsuccessful adventure in this illustrated two-volume book, first published in 1855. Volume 2 covers, and attempts to justify, Belcher's much-criticised decision to abandon four ships in the pack-ice. It also contains Belcher's views on reports of cannibalism among Franklin's crew, as well as scientific observations and a fascinating list of provisions.

A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, during the Years 1839–43
  • Volume 2
  • James Clark Ross
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    19 May 2011
    First published in:
    1847
  • James Clark Ross (1800–1862) was an explorer who served in the Royal Navy and made his first Arctic trip in 1818 on an unsuccessful mission to find the North-West Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. On the basis of his polar experience, he was appointed to lead further expeditions, and by 1839 he found himself on the opposite side of the world in the Antarctic, with Joseph Dalton Hooker as his on-board naturalist. This two-volume account of the four-year voyage was published in 1847. Ross' findings led him to the conclusion that there was life on the sea floor to at least 730 metres, and the work is an important contribution to the development of oceanography and scientific knowledge about the Antarctic. Volume 2 continues the story of the expedition, which eventually reached 78ºS, and discovered the deep bay in the southern ocean now called the Ross Sea.

Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific and Beering's Strait
  • To Co-operate with the Polar Expeditions: Performed in His Majesty's Ship Blossom, under the Command of Captain F. W. Beechey in the years 1825, 26, 27, 28
  • Volume 2
  • Frederick William Beechey
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    01 May 2011
    First published in:
    1831
  • Frederick William Beechey (1796–1856), naval officer and hydrographer, was born into a family of artists, joined the Navy at a young age and went on to travel the world to survey coastlines and oceans. He published several accounts of his expeditions to destinations including the Arctic and Africa. This two-volume work, first published in 1831, describes his voyage as commander of the Blossom in 1825–1828. The ship's mission was to support the exploration of the North-West Passage by travelling eastwards via the Bering Strait to meet the explorers Sir John Franklin and Sir Edward Parry who were travelling west from the North Atlantic. Volume 2 follows the expedition from California, where it had overwintered, via Hawai'i and China, back to the Bering Strait for a second summer. It includes a vocabulary of Eskimo words, notes on harbours and navigation, and a vivid description of the northern lights.

The First Crossing of Greenland
  • Volume 1
  • Fridtjof Nansen
  • Translated by Hubert Majendie Gepp
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    12 May 2011
    First published in:
    1890
  • First published in English in 1890, this book by Norwegian explorer and scientist Fridtjof Nansen (1861–1930) recounts the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, an expedition that took two months. Learning from previous failed attempts, Nansen suggested crossing from the uninhabited east to the inhabited west of Greenland, an innovation that proved successful. Nansen's account was translated by Hubert Majendie Gepp and includes an introduction written by the secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. Volume 1 describes the initial stages of the journey, including detailed accounts of the equipment, the methods used for crossing the ice and the arrival of the party on the east coast of Greenland. The volume ends with a description of previous attempts to cross the 'inland ice'. Nansen, who later served as delegate to the League of Nations, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1922 for his humanitarian endeavours.

Voyages of Discovery and Research within the Arctic Regions, from the Year 1818 to the Present Time
  • John Barrow
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    11 May 2011
    First published in:
    1846
  • Sir John Barrow (1764–1848) was Second Secretary to the Admiralty for forty years. He was responsible for promoting polar exploration, and published two books on the subject for general readers. A Chronological History of Voyages into the Arctic Regions appeared in 1818, and this 1846 publication continues the story. Drawing on the explorers' own accounts, Barrow describes twelve voyages connected with the search for the North-West Passage. These include two voyages by Sir John Ross, four by Sir William Parry, and two by Sir John Franklin (whose last, fatal expedition was under way when the book was published). Barrow documents the Arctic landscape, fauna and climate, the explorers' clothes and provisions, scurvy (cured by preserved gooseberries and freshly grown mustard and cress), frostbite (necessitating amputations), on-board entertainments, and encounters with 'Esquimaux', providing fascinating insights into the realities of polar expeditions in the mid-nineteenth century.

Page 10 of 11